If styles make matchups, central Ohio’s four qualifiers in the boys basketball state tournament
will face especially intriguing semifinals.

Upper Arlington and its Division I semifinal opponent, Trotwood-Madison, couldn’t be more
different. UA plays a patient, motion offense and allows just 38 points per game. Trotwood-Madison
is a run-and-gun, full-court pressing team that averages 87 points.

“Our motto is ‘Do what we do,’ and we’re going to turn the pressure up and attack and never let
up,” Rams coach Rocky Rockhold said. “We don’t have any ‘bigs’ and never have, and we don’t rebound
very well, so we have to offset that by not only creating turnovers but converting them into
baskets.”

UA coach Tim Casey said he watched Trotwood-Madison erase a 16-point second-half deficit in a
regional final to upset Cincinnati Moeller.

“Teams like that usually have peaks and valleys,” he said, “but the thing that stuck out in my
mind was how they never get down on themselves. No lead is going to be safe against those
guys."

In Division II, Watterson will meet Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary in a rematch of the 2013 final
won by the Eagles.

“We can’t allow them to control the tempo like they did a year ago,” St. Vincent-St. Mary coach
Dru Joyce said. “They prefer to play a little slower, and last year they worked the ball around and
got a lot of layups and we settled for jump shots.”

Watterson coach Vince Lombardo said, “Our top priority is slowing down their transition and
limiting them to one shot.”

Ready, which also thrives on defense and high-percentage shots, will tackle a Cleveland Villa
Angela-St. Joseph team that Silver Knights coach Don Worstell called “supremely athletic.”

“They have great size, maybe the most of all divisions, and an equal amount of skill and they’re
very difficult to score against,” Worstell said. “To compete with them, we have to beat their
pressure, protect the basketball, make our perimeter shots and make them earn everything they
get."

VA-SJ coach Babe Kwasniak said Ready’s style is unlike anything he has seen.

“We got our tails kicked in by Watterson, and Ready went wire-to-wire with them twice,” he said.
“I’d say they’re almost like a high-school version of Wisconsin. They’re not necessarily slowing it
down, but they always get the shot they want.”

In Louisville St. Thomas Aquinas, Harvest Prep will see a Division IV semifinal opponent that
essentially starts five guards.

“We play teams with so many different styles, we made a little lineup shift in game 15 using
four players 6 feet or under just to see how it would work out, and we stuck with it,” Aquinas
coach Matt Hackenberg said. “All five guys can handle the ball and shoot effectively and we can
pose matchup difficulties for people.”

Harvest Prep coach David Dennis Sr. said his staff was struggling to come up with a game
plan.

“They bring a style of basketball that’s very different in that there’s not much of a post
presence and is basically one style — penetrate and dish,” he said. “It’s an interesting challenge,
that’s for sure.”